Climate Change Research

Climate Change Research

In view of providing support to the CAP and the Climate Change policy agenda of the European Commission, studies are being implemented in AGRI4CAST that assess the impact of a changing climate on crop yields in Europe, that identify vulnerabilities and resilience of crop production systems under a number of climate change scenarios, and evaluate different adaptation measures to mitigate the impacts identified.

Agriculture has a dual role in terms of global change: It is an important emitter of greenhouse gases, while at the same time it is one of the main sectors to be impacted by climatic change, with local, regional and global implications for the stability and access of food supply. AGRI4CAST investigates impacts on agricultural yield levels with simulations of BioMA-based models forced by chosen climate change scenarios, concentrating on short-term and medium-term time horizons (e.g. 2020, 2050).

Climate change-related activities of AGRI4CAST also explore regional vulnerabilities in agricultural production and effects of selected adaptation strategies to mitigate climate change effects as well as impacts of selected soil organic carbon mitigation measures on agricultural production, thus supporting the Europe 2020 flagship of a Resource Efficient Europe.